Blind Instincts

Chapter Twenty

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"Enough with your games, son. Quit acting like a child and take charge. You're a goddamned Alpha. Act like one." The more they speak, the louder they get.

"You really want to know, then?" Alaric mutters calmly, yet with an underlying anger that means nothing good will come.

"She's my mate." his voice is low and almost regretting, which prevokes an even more exaggerated response.

I feel my heart swell and race, my mind clouds with fear. I pull my legs into my chest, curled on the chair in a matter of protection.

I hear a chair push back as Hecate stands, her irritating dramatic entitlement takes hold of all of our attention.

"That's not true," Genevora utters loud enough to hear. The room unfolds and all I can do is sit and listen as everyone has their rounds at my neck.

Before I know it there's shouting, more people rising from their seats to intensify the situation. There's an unknown tinge to the air that rises an almost hysterical fear. I try and keep myself in check but the sudden shift in the room sends me into a panic.

My stomach bubbles aggressively, my limbs tingling like pins and needles. I feel my head rocking back and forth and I get dizzy and washed over with a lightheadedness that I can't control. I try and push out a stiff breath but I can only muster a shaky, choked dry cough. I somehow forget how to breath and my lungs sting in a hot pain, sending me out of my chair in a stumbling mess. I retrieve the layout of the house from my memory, forcing myself out with a stammer. I force open the door and the damp air brings awareness to my surroundings. I heave in a gulp of air, attempting to ground myself back into reality.

I take note of the humidity in the hair and the damp grass beneath my feet, soggy in a fit of flurries that eurupts out of nowhere. The rain showers over me, causing droplets to build on my face and trickle down my jaw. The crisp scent of the rain raw in the atmosphere, it helps calm my beating heart. My lungs have obtained a steady flow of air and my mind fog clears, allowing me open my mind and think straight forward again.

I hear footsteps on the muddy ground behind me, a couple of people have followed me out, but I'm not sure how many. The puddles all over the ground obstructs my ability to feel their presence through the earth, and in order to escape their intimidating eyes, I run the way I'm facing.

I know I have to shift in order to make my way, as it's almost impossible to avoid shrubbery running around wholly unaware. I hear a shout from behind me, but I ignore it.

I know if they truly wanted to catch me they would, thats why I pace myself and roll into the grass, shifting faster than I ever have. The pain of shifting is still prominent and my bones ache, but my eyes peel open and I have a full view of the forest around me.

I can tell we aren't far from the town but I know I cannot go back there now. Instead of my usual run of freedom and exploration, I don't pay attention my surroundings, I pound all four of my feet against the slapping mud, rushing further away from civilization. I don't care about leaving tracks or a scent behind, all I care about is getting as far away as fast as I possibly can.

I can't tell how long I've been running for, but it felt like hours. In reality, it has likely only been one. The dark clouds cleared as quickly as they arrived and the sky lightened into a beautifully clear blue backdrop. I breach the end of the forest and come out into a large field of golden hues. As if the field was alive, its long green and gold limbs dance in the wind, swaying me a welcome. The glint of the sun in the horizon passes through the strands of the tall wheat. Glimmers of water droplets from before sparkle in the light, leaving an everlasting still in my mind, of this scenery.

The field ends about a hundred metres north, though nothing else can be seen past it. I don't want to move an inch to risk this view disappearing on me, but I decide to investigate.

I start north, rustling through the field as my fur glides against the wheat. I close my eyes and let my other senses, the ones I'm used to, guide me. They take me into the horizon, where all of my anxieties are discarded and I'm left whole and free.

I stop when I feel an absence of surface beneath me, the feeling of a physical echo through the ground, but nothing. Nothing echos back to me, it's just stale. My eyes gradually open, causing a slight gasp of air to escape my mouth. I'm on the edge of a cliff, a mile above the rigid sea. I'm not sure which one it is, but nonetheless, it's indefinitely my favourite. The furious waves lap against the boulders at the bottom of the cliff, creating a spray of mist far, far into the air. I almost wish the crash of the waves could reach me way up top and water my body.

My eyes follow the ocean up and up, until I finally reach a line where the sky meets the sea. I've never seen anything like it in my life, the shimmer of the sun's rays make patterns against the waters currents. The sun hangs in the sky above the horizon line, making me feel like a pebble compared to its magnificence.

There's nothing that could make this moment anymore perfect.

"Your first time?"

It startles me at first, but I relax back into place when I realize who it is. He must've followed me all the way here.

He knows I can't answer because I'm still in my wolf form, but I appreciate his making his presence known in asking.

He settles in place next to me, and then I feel it. I feel true perfection, because the only thing missing from my picture was that scent. A meloncholy feeling droops over me, but in a happy way. My eyes water because for the first time, I'm seeing the ocean, and for the first time, I've felt entirely safe and entirely happy and wholly at ease with my future and where I'll end. I feel like I've accomplished something great, and by that, I'll be forever grateful for where I have ended up.

"I remember my first time meeting the great horizon. . ."

He pulls a handful of grass out of the ground, holding it up, and letting it fly away over the great abyss.

"I wanted to float over the water into the sunrise like a blade of grass."

The wind takes it up into the sky and pushing it way into the open air, until finally it was so far away that I couldn't spot it anymore. I hope you have a safe journey to the sun, I tell it. But it'll reach the water once the wind slows down and it'll merely be floating against the crashing waves.

"I have to take you back now and you have to face a consequence on my father's behalf," and I knew I would. I take one last scan of the sky, the field, and the rocks, and then I turn around and start walking home.

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Word Count: 1255